Clip construction for means for assembling constructional units



Feb. 6, 1951 2,540,603

L. F. URBAIN CLIP CONSTRUCTION FOR MEANS 'FOR ASSEMBLING CONSTRUCTIONAL UNITS Original Filed March l1, 1940 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Feb. 6`, 1951 IT E D Ty` F F ESC-El 'Claim's. l

The present invention relates Yto'the assembly of walls and surfaces on construction units` such as tiles whereby a new covering composed of units orv tiles maybeinstalled for existing walls or ceilings or whereby a defective Waller-ceiling unit covering may be repaired and r-mly heldin place.-

Thepresent inventionwrelates to the installation-of wall or ceiling constructions-formed of individuall unitsorl tiles'of geometricalushape adapted? to be-assembled to-.cover awall-or'fceil'- ingV structure,V andparticularlydoes the invention relate to the installation of such units formed of acoustical tileswhich, as is knownlin the art, are formed/invarious designs, shapesand sizes, composed of bagasse: or other brous material, wherein the tiles have*marginalbevelsA on` their front faceswhich,v when the tiles are-juxtaposed in assembled relation, provide intervening-'junctional channels Or grooves.'

In certain instances it has been proposed to assemble and install thesetiles as a `ceilingv or wall structure by nailing the Vseparatertiles into the subjacent'rsupporting wall or ceiling, or into the plaster or into-theiurring thereona In other instances installations have been made-byv gluing the tilesin assembled position onthefsubjacent surfaces In those installations wherelnails have been'usedV forholding v the bagasse: tiles in' position, the `tiles have pulled downwardly with-ref.-

erence to ythenails intoa sagging positionor the tilesI have :ifallenl completely from'f the ceiling-Tor wall'pstructure.V InothertypesA of installations the glue or adhesivehas,v in a number 'of instances, beenineffective to hold. the tiles in position. and they have sagged` orY dropped down-Y andit has been necessary to re-,tile the@entireasurfaces or tore-,nail the entire surfaces inorder to-repair orrestore the .wall or ceiling to uniformity of appearance andsecure assembly. Y

In the present invention Inprovide means. for assembling aiceiling or wall constructioniormed ofizindividual units of acoustical tilev or of units havlnglotherv construction, which will securely and ornamentally. hold the .units` or' tiles in assembled positioneither as 'ai repair job or as. an original installation and I have provided this way to secure a rrnly. supportedV unit construction. as; well as anornamental' one. In addition, the means Irhave providedalso actsv to: prevent projection or breathing at the juncture between the individual tiles making up the installation and, therefore, theobjectslof the presentinvention'areto. provide means' for accomplishingcthe foregoing. advantages and, results; as,l well asu. to

. 2,. provide asimple typeY of supportingI means formed of aplurality of standardized` v shapes adapted to beused in conjunction wit-hY standard acoustical tiles" orother construction units' for permanently installingv various combinationsMand ar-rangements'of thetiles to't-andcover various sizes and shapes of walls orv ceilings;Y another object ofy thepresentinventionl is= to provide a seriesof clips for' holding-acoustical tiles and the like rmly in rassembled positionwith respect Ito arsubjacent wal-l or ceiling structurein a mannersuchthat a defective installation canbe're'mediedwithout removingn any; oi theftiles from positionv on the wallfstructure to` provide central clips 'and endl clips and corner clips permitting off various-lengths of strip members to=be``v used therewith for holding-thev tiles Yinposit-ion Aand forcovering the -juncture portionseofd the tile',A and particularly in amanner tomake a sealing contact with the front facial portions of theftilesat the gaps between the ends of theelongatedistrips wherebyV to prevent breathing between the spaces lying 4between adjacent tiles and between ktheir junctions; tol provide junction clipsand longitudinal strip-members havingA intertting-'parts the-'facing members ofwhich junctionl clips and strips=-are devoid of nails, screws, toggle-bolts-or other unsightly fastening means; to provide stripsl and junction clipmembers which engage andoverlie the junction of theV various-l-strips whereby to prevent breathing between such-gaps; to provide'clip'members which engage strips with aresilient gripping engagement in lieuof'scre'ws, bolts and other interconnections; to providefa series/of clips adapted to be fastened inpl'ace'betweenltherneetingedges of tiles, in combination with clips having resilient edges orv portions whereby frictionally to grip correspondingengaging walls of the clips to( hold the stripimembers in position; to provide these and other objects of invention, as will be apparent from aperusal of vthe following specification whenl takenV in connection with thelaccompanying drawing', wherein:

Figure l is an assembly viewl showing thersn'ap'- on 4type of junction clips used for covering upnail or bolt holes used in the fastening clips;

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan'view of a portion of Figure 1;

Figure 3`is a section taken onV the line3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 14 is* alperspective viewofone of the centerisnap-onjunction clips; andV Figure 5 isa view showing themanner'inwhich one of the elongated strips engages the clip;vk

This:` application isV adivision ofv my pending 3 application Serial No. 473,432, filed January 25, 1943, now abandoned, which in turn is a division of my application Serial No. 323,358, filed March l1, 1940, now Patent No. 2,382,456, issued August 14, 1945.

By reference to Figure 1 it is understood that the present invention relates to the installation of standard or non-standard types of geometrical constructional shapes herein specincally illustrated as an acoustical tile which in general is formed of bagasse, and which is utilized as a covering for wall or ceiling structures for buildings and the like. The acoustical tiles are generally formed at their margins with beveled surfaces so that when the tiles are juxtaposed in assembled relation a system of V-shaped channels is provided, which may be symmetrically arranged as shown in Figure l, or asymmetrically arranged, if desired, as shown in my prior pending application of which this application is a division. It is to be understood that any type of shape or any type of constructional unit may be used if the same is characterized by certain constructional features which are inherently suitable or adaptable for use in connection with the fastening devices forming the subject matter of the present invention.

In general, where I refer herein to acoustical tile, it is to be understood that I am not speciically limited to acoustical tile, but that any type of constructional units may be utilized provided they are adaptable to use in connection with the present invention. In general the acoustical tile is adapted to be assembled to cover a Wall r Ceiling, adapted to be held firmly in assembled position on the wall or ceiling by means of a series of strips and fastening clips. Modifications of these clips may be utilized for forming further arrangements or assemblies of the acoustical tile.

Because of the nature of the present invention, it is peculiarly adaptable to installations which have been put on with adhesive or have been nailed on and wherein in the rst instance the adhesive has crystallized and the tile has become loose, has sagged or fallen down. Since practically all of these acoustical materials are soft and porous, in those installations where they have been held in place by nails, the nails have gone clearly through the acoustical tile so that the latter has come down over the heads of the nails and the tiles have fallen down and sagged.

It is to such installations, as well as to new installations, that the present invention is peculiarly adapted. Heretofore there had been no way known of patching up or refastening the tiles in position without removing all of the tiles and starting afresh. However, in the present instance, inasmuch as the fastening means herein disclosed takes advantage of the V-groove formed at the marginal juncture of the variously assembled tiles, and wherein fastening means is utilized in connection with such V-groove which lies at the outer face of the tile when in a central position, whereby through the agency of the fastening means to hold the tile firmly in assembled position, it must be at once apparent that such defective installations can be immediately reestablished and rmly reassembled without removing any of the sagged or loose tiles from the installation, but that, on the contrary, all of the tiles can be immediately and very quickly rmly reunited in assembled position in an economical, simple and expeditious manner.

Referring now to Figures l and 3 of the drawings, I have shown at 2 any type of subjacent supporting means which may comprise rock lath, old plaster or furring strips and upon which the acoustical tile is adapted to be assembled for ornately covering the ceiling or wall support. The acoustical tile or construction units are indicated at 4 as being disposed in square formation with their marginal edges in juxtaposition and held iirmly in such position by various types of fastening means, particularly the short clips 58 of the cross sections shown in the drawings. These clips are provided with Wood screw holes 55 and are adapted to receive Wood screws or other fastening means 6l which take into the subjacent supporting means 2 whereby to hold the tiles in desired position. It is to be noted that the clips lie in the beveled junction between the meeting edges of two or more tiles yil. These clips 58 are provided at each of the corner intersections, running .in a single direction only as to any particular intersection and also at the end sections and corner of the room sections. In some instances, where the tile is of a larger proportion than ordinary construction, intermediate clips may be used, as shown in the dotted lines at the bottom of the upper square see Figure l. These clips 58 are essentially trough-like in construction. The edges of the trough-like portion converge towards an apex which is rounded. The free ends of the trough-like body are substantially S-shaped in cross section as shown at B2, whereby to form shoulders 64, which shoulders are formed when the two ilanges resulting from forming the trough-like section are bent laterally inwardly in curvilinear fashion at 'H to provide outwardly facing, spaced apart, opposed shoulders, the ends of said shoulders 5d being bent reversely inward with the free edges facing each other. These clips 5S with the fastening means BI attached thereto are inserted through the junction of two tile pieces into the Ysubjacent supporting means 2 and are thus held permanently in position, after which an intermediate elongated strip 55, see Figure 5, of the cross section shown in Figure 3 is installed in association with the clip 58. Each of these elongated strips 65 comprises an imperforate central web 66, the bottom wall of which is formed slightly convex and the opposite free ends or free resilient tongues of which are provided with flanges 68 having free ends 10 adapted to clip upon and in the shoulder 64 of the clip 56, the imperforate part 65 closing the space between the free ends 62 of the clips 58. In addition, corner clips B9 are provided, of the construction shown in Figure 4, the same comprising a central web portion 'I2 and two or more arms radially projecting therefrom. In Figure 4, four such arms are shown for the central clips, likewise as shown in Figure 4. Each arm comprises imperforate wall portions 'ifi having opposed in-turned anges 76, each formed with a bent-in toe portion 78. The cross sectional dimensions of these leg or arm portions of the junction clip are of larger dimensions than the corresponding cross section of the strips 55 so that the arms can overlie and snap into the shoulder portion 6d of the clip 58, as shown in Figure 3. Thus each one of these junction clips will overlie the space between the elongated strips E5. per surfaces 82 of these junction clips make sealing contact with the front face of the tile to prevent breathing at these points.

It will be apparent that by means of this construction various lengths of the strips 65 may The outer upbe used, depending upon the arrangement of the clips 53. By reference to Figure 3V it will be noted that the curved surface l2 of the junction clip is adapted to hide a head 84 of the bolt 6I, and that in all of these tiles the clip members are provided with the overlying edge portions 'I6 and 82 which are adapted to make sealing contact with the front face of the tile at the gap between the ends of the elongated strips 65, whereby to prevent breathing between the spaces of the adjacent tiles. In other words, the edges of the strips 65 and the edges of the overlying corner, center and junction clips engage the tile and form the sealed breathing stop.

It is to be understood that the type of clip shown in Figure 4 may be made with a number of legs or arms to conform to the type of shape shown in Figures 4 to 8 inclusive of may prior pending application Serial No. 473,432, led January 25, 1943.

It is thought that the invention and numerous of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing illustrative description and it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or saericing any of its attendant advantages, the form herein described being a preferred embodiment for the purpose of illustrating the invention.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

l. A clip comprising a trough-like body of cross-like shape of sheet metal comprising a central, substantially imperforate hub having four tending in parallelism andrlying adjacent the position, said tongues including a substantially bend therein in the direction of said convex portion to cause the edge portions thereof to form a resilient gripping engagement with a member insertable between said edge portions.

3. A clip strip comprising an elongated troughlike body having a bottom wall formed slightly convex with the opposite ends thereof bent reentrantly forming shoulders, and then outwardly and terminating in free resilient tongues, the longitudinal free edges of which are parallel and are in spaced apart opposition, said tongues including a substantially 90 bend therein in the direction of said convex portion to cause the edge portions thereof to form a resilient gripping engagement with a member insertable between said edge portions.

4'. A clip comprising a trough-like body having a central substantially imperforate hub and at least two radially extending branches at an angle with one ano-ther, each branch having a curvilinear bottom lying in the plane of the hub portion, each branch having reentrantly bent inwardly extending flanges, the ends of which lie in spaced apart opposition with their edges parallel, the marginal portions of said flanges having substantially V-shaped bends therein extending in parallelism and lying adjacent the free edges of said flanges.

5. A strip comprising a trbugh-like body having a central imperforate curved linear bottom, said bottom having reentrantly bent and inwardly extending langes attached to the edges thereof, the ends of said flanges lying in spaced apart opposition with their edges parallel, the marginal portions of said anges having substantially V`shaped bends therein extending in parallelism and lying adjacent the free edges of said anges.

LEON F. URBAIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 417,094 Sagendorph Dec. 10, 1889 718,302 Bartelstone Jan. 13, 1903 1,772,417 Ellinwood Aug. 5, 1930 1,800,609 Drake Apr. 14, 1931 1,820,700 Hatch Aug. 25, 1931 2,057,860 Tolmie Oct. 20, 1936 2,101,612 Duffy Dec. 7, 1937 2,156,669 Van Uum May 2, 1939 2,243,322 Van Uum May 27, 1941 2,292,394 OBrien Aug. 11, 1942 

